The Thing from Upstairs
by The 21st Century Pendragon
Summary: Nothing says more of a horror movie night matinee during a night thunderstorm than to experience it...for real. Witness the Loud siblings go through a darker version of "Left in the Dark".
1. Chapter 1

It is a rainy day in Royal Woods. The upcoming storm will soon intensify as it traverses through Michigan. But as the storm surges, we switch focus of the spotlight to the Loud siblings, snuggling in rest as they gather by the living room with their pillows and blankets, sipping hot chocolate and channel surfing, hoping to find something that is not about the weather. It is a Friday night, so they will expect something worth tuning in. Finally, they tune in to a slightly edgier channel, with a horror matinee coming up next.

Their parents are not yet present. So, the eldest sibling Lori is in charge. (Or will she?)

Lori hands her siblings more hot chocolate in a tray with marshmallows.

"Hey, more coco guys." Lori announces to her sisters and brother as they are currently glued to the screen. As they sense the luscious malt, they cheer and gather to Lori to get their mugs of chocolate. In relaxation, Lincoln, who was sitting near the table with Lucy, Lola and Lana, relays the events to us, the readers.

"Nothing more than a relaxing day at the Loud house. Just chilling under a heavy storm with my sisters and me, a coco in my hand and the awesomest moment to wait for a horror movie"

As they wait for the horror matinee hour to happen (five minutes from now), Lana leans near to couch, dragging the blanket to her favor. Lola, who is sharing the said blanket with Lana, addresses her concern, teetering, "Uhmm dear twin, it seems our little blanket has gotten the most share on you. So if you wouldn't mind, my dear Lana, to share it with me."

Yawning, Lana replies, "You get…your share here…it is enough for…us." Just after that, Lana wraps her entire with the entire blanket and snuggles to sleep. As usual, Lola gets annoyed by this. "Ughh…" she grunts.

But she has a backup plan for that. "Lincoln, being such a dear brother, would you mind getting my comforter upstairs for me?"

As being one of the people excited for the horror matinee, Lincoln replies, "Ahmm, why would I want to do that?"

Shortly nice but easily infuriated, Lola explains "Because…Lana got the whole blanket and Lucy is not available since she wants to watch the movie more than you."

Hearing this, Lucy agrees, "It's true. I never miss any horror matinee in FXX, except maybe _The Trolls Sequel_."

Defending his case, Lincoln says, "But what does that have to do…"

But Lola quickly interferes, "You better get me my comforter, or else!"

"Okay, okay," Lincoln accepts his task.

Bringing his coco mug with him, he climbs upstairs and walks down the bedroom hall. As he proceeds to Lana and Lola's bedroom, a liquid drips to Lincoln's mug. Noticing this, Lincolns looks up to the source – a soaking crack from the ceiling. "Yikes, a leak in our house?" Lincoln says in response. And just like an alert Boy Scout, Lincoln races to the bathroom and searches for a vessel for the leak. The closest to what he can find is Luna's mug used for tooth brushing. With no other choice, he places it above where the leak took place. And by that, mission accomplished.

"Phew, that was close," Lincoln sighs in relief, "Need to solve this leak though."

After that, Lincoln does the first thing he needs to do: tell Lori. He then sprints to the kitchen, where he sees Lori by the phone (her head grasping the phone by her left shoulder).

"Lori, red alert, there is a leak in the house," Lincoln alerts this to Lori in a panicky tone.

In usual fashion, Lori is talking to Bobby by the phone. At the same time, she is preparing another set of hot chocolate and adds one macaroni soup. The only thing that she utters, "Yes", "I know Bobby".

"But Lori, this is important. Our house is leaking," Lincoln alerts her once more.

"Hold on Bobby," Lori notices his pleas but dismissively replies, "Might wanna take this later twerp or I will kill you."

"But Lori, we have a leak upstairs," Lincoln says again.

Annoyed, Lori replies, "Linc, we have leaks in the fridge. Now, if that's what you call in for, then get one. Now leave me alone!"

"But Lori…Ugh"

With no other choice, Lincoln races to his sisters by the living room but he is stalled by Lola, who stops at his direction.

"Lincoln, there you are. Now where's my comforter?" Lola calmly addresses as Lincoln stutters for a response, until she releases an outburst, "Not with you? Now get it!"

Cowardly, Lincoln raises back upstairs as the horror matinee is about to air and the Loud sisters (sans Lori) tune in. Regardless of his dismay, the 11-year old Loud sprints to get Lola's comforter but he encounters one more leakage and spots that Luna's mug has overflowed with water.

Just like that, Lincoln inspects the whole ceiling to spot for more leaking and speeds to the bathroom to use the empty trash bin for the leaks. "Crud, just my night of a stormy Friday does this have to happen," Lincoln reacts at the sight of his current dilemma." After taking care of the leaks, Lincoln goes to retrieve Lola's comforter. However, he discovers a leak coming from the attic stairway. "Gahh, really? Can you just calm down and not soak the house more?" Lincoln reacts as he opens the stairway and a splash of water lands on his face. "Shoulda not said that."

Lincoln then proceeds to the attic to inspect the area. Seeing its pure dimness, he runs back and obtains a flashlight and a roof sealant. As he returns to the desolate upper part of the Loud house, Lincoln scouts the area and spots the stuff in there are still intact but rains have been leaking from the roof and soaking the wooden floorboard.

One droplet then lands on Lincoln's hair. "Oww geez, is our house really this fragile?" Lincoln says as he stands on a nearby leak hole and try to seal it. However, his inexperience with using a sealant of any kind leads him to accidentally squirt sealant on his face and his arms. He even gets a wood splinter. "Aww, ugh. Could this night get any worse?"

With that remark, a thunder clasp rolls. "I said too much," Lincoln addresses to his reader. But just then, a crack can be heard from the hole. And that paves way for an impactful thud to be felt and heard downstairs.

"Lincoln, what's going up there?" Lynn calls him out.

"You better not be rebelling or you will not like what I'll do," Lola assures evilly, with Lynn looking at her with nosiness.

"Lynn, can you check Linc upstairs?" Luna commands her.

"Why would I have to check him? Why not Leni?" Lynn complains.

"Yeah, why not Leni?" Leni dumbly agrees, "Oh wait, why not Luna?"

"Dudes, you better check him now. Who knows what trouble he's up to now?" Luna asserts.

But Lana interferes, "Guys, keep it down. We are about to miss the part where the monster might be lurking in the dark." Lana is obviously talking about the horror film currently showing, _The Banshee_. And by her statement, the power goes out and everything turns dark.

"You were saying?" Luna responds.

"Nothing." Lana replies. Just as they realize everything is pitch black, and as obvious, all sisters scream and panic. Lori enters the scene and attempts to calm them down.

"Guys! Guys, settle down," Lori commands them in immediate stance. She then takes her whistle and blows it to signal the Louds. Just as they hear the whistle blow, the sisters huddle with resounding commotion. Then Lori directs them, "Okay everyone huddle. Same routine. Count off." She begins, "One"

"Two," Leni replies.

"Three," Luna follows.

"Four," Luan does too.

"Five," Lynn squeals quickly.

"Six," a voice overlaps Lynn's.

"Seven," Lucy slyly replies.

"Eight," Lana replies.

"Nine," Lola follows quickly

"Ten," Lisa monotonously follows.

"And that makes Lily eleven," Lori says, "Okay that makes us complete."

"Not really, Lincoln's not with us." Luna reiterates.

"Wait. Lincoln's not here?" Lori asks Luna. Luna can only nod, alongside Lynn and Leni. "So if Lincoln's not here, then why we counted eleven?"

"I dunno," Lana tries to figure it out, but Lola, being the family's tattler, blames her, "Maybe, you have miscounted, dear sister."

"What? I know I counted correctly. I was eight." Lana defends.

"Indeed, you are eight…years younger than me. Hahaha" Luan untimely jokes and giggles, "Get it?" As usual, everyone responds with a sigh at Luan's corny joke.

"I am aware that I am the seventh to sound over. But someone just spouted 'six' in a male-like voice," Lucy says.

"Okay, let's count off again. And this time, our names," Lori directs, "Ready?"

The Loud sisters then call off their names in a quick motion.

"Lori."

"Leni."

"Luna."

"Luan."

"Lynn."

"Lucy."

"Lana."

"Lola."

"Lisa."

"And Lily," Lori then proceeds as such, "Okay it is clear that it's just ten of us. Only Lincoln's not here."

"But who could have said 'six'?" Lynn wonders.

"I might deduce that a metaphysical presence might be inhabiting our premises right now, or just another unseeded scoundrel who tries to pester us during a Category-7 hurricane." Lisa concludes, "Or probably Lincoln just pranking us."

"The former is negative. I am the only one who can certify metaphysical presences in this house. I detect nothing. But I may be wrong." Lucy addresses.

"Well, that only means…" Leni tries to figure out.

Just as then, the voice unnervingly resounds, "I…I…"

"It's…" Leni panics.

"A…" Lynn does so.

"I can tell. It is a ghost." Lucy, in her most deadpan tone possible, replies.

As they all hear Lucy's confirmation, all Loud sisters scream, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH".

Everyone goes berserk as they finally hear a ghost's voice. Lori tries to calm them down but she suddenly hears a mushy sound, a sound like when a pile of mud lands on a wooden floor. Frightened, she tries to calm herself down, ducking her body to the floor. Luna spots her.

"Need help there?" Luna says to her.

Hearing Luna, Lori grabs her. "Good. Luna, I need you to help me gather all. We need to keep silent, so we can think of a plan." With no other choice, Luna agrees.

With limited vision, courtesy of darkness, Lori shakes up Leni and takes her to the couch. She then takes Lily to her left shoulder, grabs Lynn by the arm and asks for Lucy to appear beside her, which she does. Luna grabs the twins, who are running around in fear, and carries them. She then guides Lisa by asking her to grab her shirt and distracts Luan with a dark humor joke.

"Luan, what did the candlelight said to the darkness?" Luna asks.

Luan gets her attention and responds, "Dunno. What did the candlelight said?"

"Black, out" Luna sneeringly answers, knowing her joke is as corny as Luan's.

Hearing that, Luan laughs, patting her should and following her. "Oh sis, didn't know your jokes are as lame as mine." Luna then groans out of annoyance and guides Luan to the group.

At total pitch black visibility, Lori has them gather around the living room table (with each one slightly shivering from the rain's chilling temperature) and assess their plan. Each is peeping, curious on what is going on. The eldest Loud sister afterwards lights up the forum with her cellphone flashlight. She never realizes the short longevity of her phone but she discusses the matter firsthand.

"Okay guys, this phone's about to get bust so I will be quick. Now listen, rain's hard and the town's entire power's out, as says in my feed. Now, we have to settle in candlelight." Lori announces.

The news about a citywide blackout (and the thought of using candles) truly shock the Loud siblings (sans Lucy, since she often uses candles). But Lori still continues, "Okay, I know the situation's bad."

"It's bad?!" Lola fusses, "It's getting worse!"

"Okay, will you just calm down for a while?" Lori pacifies but Lola still keeps a displeased look.

"Good. Okay now, we need sources of light and heat. Lucy, have any candles?"

"I believe I may have a single left at my drawer," Lucy replies.

Just by that, the sisters moan in dismay. "But you may have matches to pair up with that?" Lori asks.

"Not really. I only borrow from dad's tools downstairs. I think he has a box." Lucy answers.

"Phew. Wait, where's downstairs?" Lori asks otherwise.

Lucy then reveals, "The basement."

We know of the Loud's history about the basement. And throwing more salt to the wound with the fact that Lincoln is not present and power was out in all of Royal Woods, Lori is shocked, making her gulp.

"Okay, seems to be a change of plan," Lori nervously announces.

"Dude, you look like shaking. You scared again?" Luna asks out of curiosity.

"Nope, nope." Lori denies, "Not scared. Just…not scared." Eventually, she snaps out of the moment, for now. "Okay, we need someone to get the matches," Lori says hastily. Everyone then glares at her.

"Fine, I'll go but I need someone with me"

"I volunteer…Lucy to do it," Lynn points out.

"Just because I love the dark doesn't mean I would want to rip my soul to enter the abysmal basement," Lucy defends.

"What are you, chicken?"

"Well, if you are so tough, why don't you go?"

"What?! This toughness is made for something else."

"Yeah dude? Why not you go?" Luna interrupts.

"Oh, so you are siding with her now? You're older than me" Lynn argues. Just after that, all Loud sisters (except for Lori) argue with each other. Annoyed, Lori stops them, "Shut it! I am taking Luan."

Naturally, Luan gladly accepts and tries to lighten up the situation (get it? *cue ughs*), "Oh good, you found the perfect match." Luan then laughs and the rest groans.

"Got your videocam?" Lori asks.

"Uh-huh. But it's upstairs." Luan answers, making the sisters switch their heads to the staircase and hearing those murmurs again.

"Let's save it for later. Okay. Both of us are going downstairs," Lori assesses, "Luna, you take charge."

"What?! Why do I have to take charge?" Luna complains.

"Because I see you more competent than Leni." Lori explains.

"Hey! *processes her thoughts* I can see too," Leni dumbly reacts with a smile.

With no other choice, Luna agrees.

"Good. Settled." Lori continues, "Now all of you stay here. Nobody leaves and nobody panics. Okay?"

The rest of the sisters nod. Just as then, Lori clings cowardly onto Luan near her face, "Just stick with me and we'll be fine."

"Don't worry sis. I am hopeful that we can get out of this sticky situation." Luan lightens *pun intended* the mood, yet Lori agrees nervously, as the odd couple proceed by the basement door. Lori lights up where the doorknob is located and Luan opens the door. And in front of them is a darker abyss than above. Trembling, Lori clings Luan by her abdomen and raises her phone to light the way. "Stick with me." Lori tensely says, "But you lead the way." Luan gulps heavily as they slowly walk every step downstairs.

The rest of the sisters witness them till the phone's light slowly fades away from their sight.

"There they go." Lynn comments.

"Now that gets me curious," Lisa points out, "If Lori has a functioning phone, don't we have our own?"

"Of course," Luna realizes with a palm to her face, "Anyone who has their phones with them?"

The rest of the girls, Leni, Lynn, Lucy, Lana, Lola and Lisa, check their pockets. And only Leni and Lynn have their phones with them.

"Oh, mom have our phones because reasons…" Lana explains with her head pointing to Lola.

"It's nothing big…" Lola replies, "If it weren't Lana for being a doofus!"

"I have my phone calibrated with a functioning app for a missile controller," Lisa explains, "So it cannot be used."

Just her mention of "missile controller" grabs the attention of the sisters, raising an eyebrow on Lisa. "What?" the 4-year old child prodigy reacts.

"Okay, we can use both your phones." Luna says to Leni and Lynn.

"My phone's ringing. And it's from 'low battery'." Leni reacts to her phone's buzzing of a drained battery.

Frustrated, Luna says, "Ughh, we better use that quickly. Lynn, how about…?"

Luna then sees Lynn playing _Monster Hunte_ r on her phone. "Lynn!" Luna exclaims.

"Oh sorry, thought it was drained, so I took the last minute on finishing my level here." Lynn assures. But right after saying it, Lynn's phone turn off. "Oops," Lynn shrugs, placing her phone behind her back.

Right then, the Loud sisters hear a soft whimper upstairs from a familiar source. "Did you hear that?" Lana asks.

The whimper gets louder and fully realized. Luna reacts, "It's…"

Then altogether, Luna, Leni, Lynn, Lucy, Lana, Lola and Lisa bellow, "Lily!"

To be continued.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry that a follow-up for this story took so long. I supposed to release this on Saturday but I was not able to catch up. I have personal commitments to get to, like work, career, family and community, that it gave me hard to balance them all. Like many others, I am not just a contributor to this site. I also have a life to fulfill, and it is awesome. Also, I got off recently from binge-watching Stranger Things, so it took me moments of inspiration to capture the genius of that Netflix show. (I deeply recommend in by the way.)**

 **There will be more scares here. So hope you will enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

The rain intensifies with strokes of lightning hovering over Royal Woods, just with softer thunder clasps. It just makes the hue of the day grayer. And courtesy of the night's rains and unexpected blackout, the Loud house becomes a dreary abode to set foot on.

Back to Lori and Luan, they tiptoe every step downstairs. Lori notices the flinging cobwebs and wipes them away in annoyance. She then hears creaking from the upper floor but they don't resemble footsteps. (They sound like swaying bamboo.) Out of panic, Lori chatters while Luan takes notice.

"You wouldn't so happen to cling on me, just because you are scared to go down here alone. Right?" Luan wonders.

"Oh nice deduction, Captain Obvious," Lori replies.

Luan rebuffs her statement and continues on. "Don't worry about that sis. This trip to the basement is a walk in the park."

Just as Luan says her reassurance, they both trip on the second-to-the-last step and fall face first on the concrete floor, making Lori slide her phone away and having its light fade away. Now, at zero visibility, Lori and Luan get up after their fall, heeding from their slight pain.

"Ouch…" Luan gripes.

"You'd have to say 'trip'?!" Lori comments.

"I didn't mean for us to fall at a jinx," Luan defends with a laugh.

"Ugghh…great, now we have to find my phone," Lori says.

"But how we can find it in this situation?"

Realizing the pitch black presence, Lori proposes, "Okay, the best thing to do is find my phone fast! Crawl if you need to."

"Alright sis. Let's crawl! Hahaha."

The two try to search for Lori's phone but end up butting heads. "Ouch! Watch it Luan!" Lori warns.

"Sorry!" Luan replies.

"Just keep searching and don't stop."

They both end up at prone position, just to search for Lori's phone. Both sisters stretch their arms to try to get a touch of the phone but end up hitting stuff, making them hear commotions. Luan hits her head in what is presumed to be chest while Lori gets hit by a shelf, causing some objects to fall. Both only perceive thuds from their hits. Luan tries to call out Lori, "Lori, are you okay there?" And eventually, she feels something familiar. "Wait Lori! I'm getting something," Luan alerts Lori as she tries to reach out for that object. Feeling it to be wooden, she grasps it, only to let it clasp to her hands. "Ouuuu…hey". With only her touch to sense to be useful, Luan realizes it to be a mousetrap.

"Well, I mouse have been trapped. Hahaha. Get it?" Luan reacts jokingly but she does not receive Lori's response.

"Lori, you there? Thought I would lighten the mood for you. Hahaha." Luan jokes again but Lori does not seem to react. This time, it is a serious matter for the jokester that Lori does not react to her jokes.

"Uhmm Lori, you really there?" Luan alarmingly calls out to her older sister while she searches for Lori's phone. Eventually, she feels a thick plastic substance. Luan taps it to ensure it answers her presumptions. She obtains to conclude she is holding Lori's phone.

At relief, Luan relays the findings to her sister, "Wait. Found something." And with a smirk, the 14-year-old obtains Lori's phone, turns it on and signals her, "Lori! Eureka! Found your phone!" But Luan never receives a response. The only thing she can sense now is the obscure atmosphere.

"Lori! Lori!" Luan hollers, to no avail. She slowly walks, scared and worried of the lack of response from Lori. To occupy her mind from her fears, the freaked out comic tries to cite reasons why Lori never responds. Maybe she is intentionally ignoring her, for being an annoying prankster. But Lori would never do such a thing under a calamity. Or maybe Lori must have been abducted stealthily by a supernatural entity. But this is too make-believe, something Luan dislikes.

But whatever is occupying Luan's mind makes her trip to the concrete floor soaked with a substance. Luan checks it out by dipping her finger to the substance and flashes Lori's phone to reveal it to be a red gunk with a strong stench. "Is this…?" Luan investigates, trying to confirm it.

First guess would be blood, but she is familiar of its stench. "Nahhh…why could there be blood here?" She then treks her left arm across the floor and suddenly feels a warm object that feels… human. Luan flashes the phone to object to reveal a human hand, drenched in blood. And out of that horrifying discovery, Luan screams at the top of her lungs. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Back to the other sister, they are left horrified from the séance they suspected upstairs. The murmurs continue to sink in to their collective souls, causing them to tremble in fear. They then hear Luan's scream, bringing another concern to the table. "Luan?" Luna reacts.

Out of panic, Lola shrieks, "Can't handle this longer. We are gonna die!" That state of trepidation makes the rest of the sisters scream and run around the living room. But thinking about the red flags, Luna silences them down, "Everyone quiet!"

She then lays out their next move. "Now, I know we are all scared of tonight."

"More like hysterical," Lynn blankly reacts.

"That includes you, dudette. Now, if we just take a little moment of calmness, maybe we won't make things much worse for us, okay?"

Lana suddenly notices a peculiar happening from Lucy. "Guys, I think there's something wrong with Lucy." The group then huddles around Lucy and Leni flashes her phone to get a view of their goth sister, who seems to be hallucinating and sweating profusely, as she rocks her body back and forth. Another note is that she murmurs a mysterious chant that goes like "T'soh go n'sie reht".

"What is she saying?" Lynn asks.

"Some kind of spell? Or foreign language?" Luna suggests, and then Lisa lends her linguistics expertise to encrypt of Lucy's panic chants.

"Hmm…I can't hear a hint of Latin or indigenous language," Lisa surmises, "But the first things that should come to mind are voodoo language or television lexicon."

"Whatever it is, it's not good," Luna concludes.

Lana afterwards feels Lucy's hand, noticing it to be absent of heat. "Luna, she's getting cold," the 6-year-old tomboy alerts.

The rocker sister, who is now holding the responsibilities for her sisters, realizes something. "Wait, didn't mom have…" And with that, Luna rushes to the kitchen with Leni's phones as a light source, picks up an old scented candle by the cupboard, lights it up using the stove (which gives off the last of its fumes) and places it near Lucy.

"There. To keep her warm," Luna says.

But Lola gripes on Luna's belated recollection, "Why you just only now remember we have a candle in the kitchen?"

"Hey, I'm not that much of a genius to recall mom's yoga candles," Luna inanely replies. "Okay, let's set up our next move, and quick."

However, the sisters are still distracted by Lucy's incoherent mumbling. "Ret sno mo n'sie reht."

"Okay, this is something serious. Sounds like she's losing her breath," Lynn wonders out of vexation, then attempts to snap her sister into attention, "Lucy, what's going on?!" But Lucy still continues.

Luna ignores Lynn's panicking and lays down the entire situation, "Okay, clearly we don't know what's going on both upstairs and downstairs. We need people to check them out."

"People?! There are other people with us?!" Leni unwittingly reacts, making Luna facepalm.

"No Leni, I meant us. One of us has to check Lincoln and Lily upstairs, and another downstairs."

"But how? We have only one light," Lana remarks.

"Oh, in addition, with a category five hurricane in our midst, we can only anticipate for the power to be regenerated in more than 48 hours," Lisa expounds, making Lynn snobbishly react. "Well, thanks for the data."

"You would not be vexing about this situation if you would just let me work on my nuclear plant experiments," Lisa refutes.

"Well, if you are so reassuring, why don't you check downstairs and try powering the fuse box," Lynn snaps back, causing the child prodigy to twitch.

"Being of my age, I would not be the most qualified to do so," Lisa straightly defends herself.

"Alright, that's enough!" Luna pleads for both to stop arguing. "No one forces anyone, except me. Lynn, you check upstairs."

"What?!" Lynn complains.

"Dude, it's just simple. Check Linc and Lily and get more of Lucy's candles. Not that hard."

"Not that hard?! Why not trying to explain the spooky stuff up there?"

After Lynn finishes her vexation, the sisters hear another wail from Lily. Her cries are presumed to be out of desperation. And that is enough to convince Lynn to check upstairs. "Fine," Lynn dully says in response.

"Good. I will check Lori and Luan at the basement." Additionally, Luna hands Leni's phone to Lynn. "Your light source, sis. Good luck."

Luna's bid of goodbye causes Lana to remove her hat as an act of respect. "Relax Lana, I'm not going to die. Just checking our…brother…and sister…up," Lynn says with escalating fear. Before she takes foot on the staircase, Lynn checks the phone's battery to learn it has only a power capacity of 12%.

Lynn quietly takes her first steps on the staircase, resulting in slim creaks at every footstep. She does not want to cause any commotion from her siblings on what was the occurrence upstairs. More than that, the 13-year-old athlete does not want to let the night's happenings to haunt her.

As she arrives at the upper floor, Lynn senses mud and little ceiling debris on the floor. Due to the quick battery draining of Leni's phone (it's currently at 10%), Lynn has limited light visibility, making her only spot sparse amount of her surroundings. She also hears a brief pout from Lily at a distance.

"Lily, just calm down. You're sister is coming for you," Lynn, trembling, talks to herself as a way to calm herself down. She flashes the floor to see it soaked and filled with wood debris, leaves, raindrops and wood shillings. Lynn investigates further, seeing rain leaks on the walls and cracks coming from the ceiling. She steps into marsh-like territory, presumably from the hurricane's damages. Suddenly, to add to her peculiar findings, Lynn spots a blood-dripping arm hanging by the ceiling. And that arm is still in motion.

To her horror, Lynn tries to avoid screaming and runs off in panic around the abysmal hall, ending with bumping herself to a wall and letting herself get conked on the head by a loose wooden plank from the ceiling.

Meanwhile, Luna, holding an improvised torch using a small piece of paper, takes little steps downstairs to the basement. Just ensuring that her sisters are safe and successful in their job, she feels nothing threatening so far.

"Lori! Luan! Where are you guys?" Luna calls out her sisters, to no avail. She turns to the left side of the basement and illuminates her environs. The 15-year-old rocker spots Christmas décor, old books, stacked laundry and boxes. She sees no sign of her sisters, until she hears chattering and trembling across her. Luna lights the direction she is heading. And finally, she spots Luan, crouching by the corner and holding Lori's phone, cracked. Luan is riddled with fear, seen with her profuse sweating, bulgy eyes, chattering teeth and petrified body.

"Luan, what are you doing there?" Luna calls out her sister/roommate. "Are you okay?"

Luan cannot give any response but continues rocking her body in fear.

"Hey, we gotta go. Lincoln and Lily are in some trouble. Let's just grab the candles and matches, and we're outta here." Then Luna notices a non-presence in Luan's company. "Wait, where's Lori?"

Luan then points to the direction where she trips over a spillage of blood. Luna proceeds to where Luan is pointing, lighting up her way with a little flame. As she lights up the floor, Luna notices the blood spill and a gray polyethylene tarp lying near it. She traces what got Luan traumatized. Slowly descending, Luna spots the human hand that her sister screamed about. And with no moment of turning back, the hand grabs Luna by the feet, causing her to drop the fire-lit paper and to scream, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Luna tries to run but the grab to her foot makes her fall to the floor. She tries to claw herself away from the scenery, making the hand soaked in "blood" grab harder. The pitch black visibility does not help matters for her.

Then, out of conviction, a panicky Luan hears Luna's scream and rescues her sister by dragging and pulling her away from the scene.

"Luan?" Luna is in disbelief of her sister's sudden rescue.

"Just hold on tight," Luan replies.

She is successful on this, causing the weight of Luna to hit herself by a shelf that causes it to sway slightly. This causes for a toolbox to fall from the shelf and scatter its contents.

With luck in front of them, Luna and Luan search for the contents of the toolbox for possible candles and/or matches. And with only touch to guide them, they search the equipment until…

"I feel a…candle," Luna alerts.

"And a matchbox too," Luan adds, shaking the box.

And in unison, they say, "We're saved!" That hope causes them to embrace each other in celebration. However, they hear groans from the abysmal space of the basement.

"Let's run!" Luna insists, making them rush back upstairs. But Luan picks up something and turns back to Luna.

"Oh wait, what about Lori?" Luan asks.

"Where was she? I thought she's clinging on you," Luna inquires.

"She was, until we lost her phone. And we have to search for it," Luan elaborates, "But when I found it, I tried to call her but she didn't respond."

Luna then deduces, "She must have been downstairs still." Because of that important tidbit, the older sister makes a change of plans, "Luan, go back to the others. Take charge. I will search for Lori."

"What?! Luna, I cannot be the one in charge!" Luan protests.

"Well, me too. But we have no other choice."

Luna then splits the candle in half, lets out the wick from the other half and takes a matchstick from the box.

"Go now!" Luna commands her younger sister as she lights up her candle and reenters the basement. But as she descends, a gust of wind and rain blows from the window and shuts the basement door. Luan tries to dodge against the strong gust and shuts the window. But knowing what the gust did, she turns back to the basement door and tries to open it, to learn it being jammed. Luan hurriedly opens to doorknob, to no avail.

"Luna! Luna! Are you okay there?!" Luan tearfully calls out in panic, "Luna!"

Then for brief seconds, Luna assures to Luan from across the door, "Doing fine sis. Just trying to secure the candlelight."

Back to the living room, Leni, Lana, Lola and Lisa hear Luan's scream. "Is that Luan screaming?" Leni asks. Lucy is still hallucinating and repetitively chanting more hubbubs with a dry throat. "Cin apto nod. Plehr uo yde-en."

The escalating creepy situation makes Lisa to prevent any sign of panic, since she abidingly never wants to convey emotion. "Stop it, Lisa! Do not panic! AHHHH!"

Lana then slaps Lisa to silence. "We do not need more panic in this room." Just as timely, Lana sees Leni and Lola hugging each other in terror.

"I am not panicking," Lisa reiterates, then shifts from her usual emotionless tone, "I just don't wanna die!"

"I don't wanna die!" Lola wails.

Feeling the situation too worrying, Lana expresses her thoughts, "Ughhhh, can't handle this. We need to help them."

"But Luna said to wait here to watch over Lucy," Leni counters, as Lucy chokes from her dry throat. "Re tawde-en! Re tawde-en!" Lucy chants in panic.

"Will you cut the chase to actual words?!" Lola frustratingly insists, "We don't understand what you're saying!"

As they fill the living room with panic, Luan rushes to them and calls out for their help, "Guys! Luna is trapped in the basement with Lori. Need your help."

"Then what took you so long? We've been waiting in horror here!" Lola complains.

"Long story. We got trapped. Luna rescued me but she returned to rescue Lori. But the basement door jammed and she got trapped. We need to rescue them now!" Luan insists.

"Okay I will help you with that," Lana, being a handywoman, offers her assistance, "But who's going to check Lynn upstairs?"

"Lynn's upstairs?"

"Yeah, to check Lincoln and Lily. But it's been awhile for her up there."

"Okay, Leni, check our brother and sister, while me and Lana save Luna and Lori."

But out of panic, Lisa spouts in a Katniss Everdeen manner, "I volunteer! I volunteer to check upstairs!"

"But Lisa, you're…" Leni counters.

But Lisa jumps to her and defends her cause, "I'm not just a 4-year-old who babbles lexicon that you feeble beings cannot decipher! I will prove my worth! Because I don't wanna stay in this room, having to resist goth rituals in my auditory system!"

They then focus on Lucy, who is still hallucinating. "What's wrong with her?" Luan asks, making the rest shrug.

"Okay, that's settled," Luan says as the sisters disperse, again; with Luan and Lana trying to un-jam the door, Lisa checking Lynn who is checking Lincoln and Lily upstairs and Leni and Lola guarding a panic-mode Lucy. And the whole situation the entire Loud house is just getting eerier.

Lucy even spouts a sort-of warning through panicky gibberish, "Srets si, bla mec. Srets si, bla mec."

"Man, never knew I would lend such responsibility, though I've been irresponsible for not cracking jokes. Hahaha!" Luan jokingly implies, as another murmur is perceived, making her and Lana cower.

"Better keep your puns shut," Lana says.

Meanwhile, Lynn is still knocked out from the plank. Only a blanket of darkness clasping her eyes is surrounding her sight. Slowly, she regains consciousness when Lisa tugs her body to motion.

"Lynn. Lynn. Lynn!" Lisa calls her sister out.

"Ohh, whwhat?" Lynn wakes up.

"You were unconscious and wrapped in mud when I saw you. What happened?"

"Wait, the arm!" Lynn then recalls having been knocked out because of panic from sighting a dangling arm by the ceiling.

"The arm?" Lisa wonders as the athletic sister grabs her candlelight and illuminates the hall.

"I saw an arm hanging by the…" Lynn checks the spot of her sighting to see no sign of the arm, "…ceiling."

"I am sure you are suffering the same hallucination as Lucy," Lisa deduces.

"But I really saw an arm! Hanging!"

"Right? We can give this a rest first after we check on Lily."

Just like that, Lynn and Lisa rush to Lily to see her asleep. Both sigh in relief but start bringing up questions.

"Phew, glad Lily's safe," Lynn says.

"Affirmative, but one thing striking also is she's covered in dirt, leaves and debris," Lisa observes, "And so are you."

"Okay, what's going on?" Lynn reacts. They then notice footprints of dirt that stopped to Lily's crib. The unlikely duo trace the footprints that seemingly stop to where the attic staircase lands. Suddenly, the said staircase opens on a whim, making the two scream.

"Ohh yeah, I closed that staircase. It was opened when I got up here," Lisa adds.

"It was opened?" Lynn inquires, delving down to the eerie situation they are in. "Then that means?"

But before Lynn can bring up her assumptions, the candlelight goes out, and they hear a growl from the halls. "Guhhhhh…" it goes. Knowing that a supernatural presence is among them, Lynn alerts to Lisa, "Let's get out of here!", takes Lily and races out of the room. But just as they leave, footsteps begin to be perceived and heading to their direction. With no candlelight, they head back to Lily's room and cower themselves under Lisa's bed.

The footsteps get louder as it nears to their whereabouts. Both sisters chatter and tremble in panic, forcing them to give off confrontations to each other. "Lisa, if this is the end, I am sorry for trying to sleep throughout your tutorials," Lynn tearfully confesses. "Given and forgiven. Well, if this is our final hour, apologies to referring you an 'airhead'," Lisa does so. "That I can take," Lynn replies. They hear the footsteps approaching to them, resulting on both sisters tugging together. Shaking and shaking, the entity enters the room, giving an eerie waft as a signal of its presence. It groans more, presumably in pain, and slowly approaches.

But what this entity could do?

To be continued.


	3. Chapter 3

The entity grows closer and closer. Little by little, it trudges towards Lisa's bed. It is almost that he can feel endothermic presence of cowering sisters Lynn and Lisa under the bed.

Fear grasps within the sisters that Lynn gets fed up of all the shaking and trembling and decides to take things at her own hands. She takes Lisa (holding Lily) by the shoulders and says to her, "That's it. Lisa, if I don't make it back, please do take good care of poor Lily. She needs a sister she can count on. And please, turn her into an athlete."

"What are you talking about?" Lisa replies.

"I'm going to take this thing from upstairs."

"Are you insane? What if you're just going to interfere with his biological intents?"

"That's what he thinks. Do this for me." Lynn then pushes them aside and braces to lunge against the approaching entity with a glass stirring rod that she found lying under the bed.

"Wait Lynn!" Lisa screams.

But Lynn charges the entity with a cry from the top of her lungs. As surely as the rain falls continually, she is able to take it by the head, beating it repeatedly. The rubble-coated entity tries to claw Lynn out of his face, but the beats to the head proved to be inevitable. For a fatal blow, Lynn grabs the "monster" with her strongly built legs and wrestle it down to the wooden floor. And to cap this all off, she lands on the entity's chest, prepares to aim it with the glass rod and rips off its face, only to reveal none other than her brother Lincoln, wrapped around with storm debris and filled with cold sores.

"Lincoln!" she utters.

"Lincoln?" Lisa follows.

"Hey guys, it's kind of a relief to see you all," Lincoln spouts huskily.

Seeing his injuries, Lynn and Lisa immediately tend to his wounds. Lisa lights up her Bunsen burner and recovers her barely used first aid kid. Lynn cleans off the debris (composed of leaves, dirt, mud, dust and other climate-related matter) around her brother and the bleeding coming from his wounds. She also tweaks out the wooden splinters that were on his hands.

Lisa offers Lincoln five layers of her lab coats and chicken soup that she cooked from a mortar to keep him warm. "Chicken soup?"

"Thanks." Lincoln then takes a sip of the hot soup.

"Where were you? We were so worried about you," Lynn asks worriedly.

"It was a long story," Lincoln replies.

"But how come you are covered in compost matter?" Lisa addresses her curiosity, "For real, it looks like you had attempted to camouflage yourself in the wilderness."

Then with a deep sigh, Lincoln explains everything from the very beginning, "Well, it's not much. I was just trying to stop the leaks on the roof. Then, I went up in the attic to stop. But they are just unstoppable. Then, I heard from outside that the tree got loose. And with a lightning strike, boom! Branch cut off and it hit my head. And I think it destroyed the roof too."

"I cannot fathom how that would incur for your body to be surrounded with foliage, but plausible enough," Lisa deduces.

"Can you help us without your biased mumbo-jumbo?" Lynn obliges her younger sister.

"Sheesh, I just said I sided to his story," Lisa replies.

Lynn then directs her attention back to her brother. "So, and then?"

"I think I passed out from being hit on the head. When I woke up, I discovered my arm was wedged to a hole. I tried to pull it out but my arm was bleeding. I tried to call out for help So, I waited for the wooden floor to get mushy and pull myself out of it," Lincoln relays his mishap.

"But how did you get down from there?"

"That is how I encountered you. Before I got my arm out of the wooden hole, I tried to budge myself out of the attic. (This causes for a plank of wood to fall out of the frail ceiling and hit on Lynn's head earlier.) I barely can see anything, so I touch on the leaves and branches and dirt and even the rain to trace the way. There, I crawl my way out. I also felt the attic staircase on the way, giving me a way downstairs. I safely got down, and I felt your face, Lynn."

Lynn then recalls of the event when she got conked on the head that blacked her out. But despite passing out, she somehow still feels smudges dripping on her skin. And then, the same texture touched her face. She realizes that it was all Lincoln's doing.

"I also heard Lily's cry. I try to latch on the grills of Lily's crib, just to reach her and calm her down."

"Oh, so that's how she got dirty," Lisa replies.

"That is also after I crawl to the bathroom to try to wash this off. Then, I heard someone coming up to the halls. And that is where we all end up right now." With that, Lincoln finishes his side of the story.

Lynn then confronts him about this bonkers explanation. "So let me get this straight, you got up on the attic, got yourself hit in the head by a branch and crawled away like a leeching grass monster?"

"You could say that," Lincoln replies upon his soring lip.

"Well, at least that ain't the worst thing that could have happened tonight," Lynn replies as she tends to her brother's wounds.

Surely enough, the flame from the Bunsen burner dies out from an icy breeze.

"You just have to reiterate that notion, genius," Lisa berates, just as a cool, eerie draft enters the room. Though it might be construed to temperature fall as the storm continues to surge, a different presence in the form of soft echoing hollers start to startle the four. The wooden floor creaks. The freezing breeze passes. The walls quiver. And no white noise can save them from the approaching entity. It has finally found them.

Quietly, Lynn drags Lincoln under the bed, Lisa carries Lily below and she takes a blanket to cover themselves from the enclosing entity. They just can hear it enter the room and set foot near the bed. Fear starts to tremble over the siblings. Their spines tingle on every motion they feel from the entity. Cowardice is truly defined by the waft passing to their skins.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the kitchen, in another attempt to rescue Lori and Luna, Lana grabs a crowbar to unjam the basement door. "Come on baby! Show me what you got!" she utters while forcing to open the door.

"Let me help you with that," Luan lends her assistance to Lana.

While attempting to unjam the door, Lana shares, "You know, our situation right now kinda reminds me of _The Banshee_ earlier."

"What? You mean that horror movie we saw?" Luan replies.

"Definitely. I mean it's set in the dark. And a monster is lurking from the shadows."

"Yeah, thanks for the reminder. But wouldn't it be nice, if you don't bring that up in our already similar situation?"

"I know. But it kinda gives me the creeps. That kid there that got lost inside the house during a cold night, it kinda reminds me of us looking for Lincoln. And that mom lady in the movie, her story was to search for her son before the shadow monster does."

"I haven't seen the monster."

"Neither have I. But we're almost at the climax. And usually, the horror monster appears before the very end where it scares off its victims to death. But I think that monster appears from the dark whenever the mother worries over her son. The ghost brings death now that I think about it. And the thought of the ghost not being there could get her to her son."

"That seems implausible to think about, considering that a scared mom like her can get mauled by the banshee any minute."

"Well, we…wouldn't…know." Despite a strong pull by the sisters, they accidentally fling the crowbar to the kitchen, making it hit the lamp hanging on top of the table that ends up crashing to the table itself.

"Wow, you sure have to crowbar in that assurance. No pun intended."

"Well, things couldn't get bad from here." But the just like that, the lamp suddenly ignites, sending out a flame that quickly spread on the table. The sisters panic at this sight and try to find a way to extinguish it. Luan grabs a plastic basin and pours it with water while Lana takes a towel from the sink cabinet and soaks it with water. But when they go back to the engulfing flames on the table, a dark figure appears from behind the flames. No face. No sight. No discernible features. Only a tall, dark figure being seen from the flames. And at that sudden, horrifying sight, Luan and Lana scream at the top of their lungs.

For the time being, Lola notices the sudden commotion from Lana and Luan's side. "Hey! What's the ruckus there? I am trying to decipher what Lucy is saying!" However, she notices the light source from the kitchen and its soot-like scent. "What is the…fire?!" With that, she speeds up to the kitchen. "Don't worry guys! I am coming!"

"Wait where you going?" Leni asks while she fans Lucy.

"Stay here Leni. Lola's gotta do what Lola's gotta do," she utters with a tone of an action hero. She then sprints to her sisters.

"Po opmo cni nu-oy, po opmo cni nu-oy!" Lucy chants hysterically.

"Oh we know Lucy," Leni replies, "Lola is a nincompoop, whatever that means."

* * *

But back at Luna, while sitting near the back of the basement door, she suddenly notices the light source from the kitchen and realizes it to be fire. "Oh no!" she utters. "Luan! Lana! What's going on in there?! Hello!" But they never answer.

Thankfully for Luna, she is provided with even a little source for the obscure basement. With that, she kicks a wooden support from the staircase to use it as a club and attempts to break herself out of her area. She tries in every way, from beating the plane to unjamming the knob, all to no avail. She even attempts to kick and push the door, but it only leaves scratches and wood peels.

With no other choice, the 15-year-old lurks to the abysmal basement with little lighting, armed with only the wooden rod and searches for something she can use to break the door. Slowly, she treks her eerie surroundings and stumbles upon the "blood" from earlier. Taking advantage of the little light, she checks the spillage to see a shelf of paint cans scattered and covering a gray tarp on the ground. She investigates the area and sees the human hand from earlier still lying and coming from the tarp. She then lifts up the tarp to reveal none other than Lori knocked out unconscious. "Lori!" she shrieks.

At that discovery and total urgency, Luna drags her older sister to the staircase and places her there. She then goes back to the toppled shelf and takes a paint can to use it to break them out of the basement. She pounds it harder and harder, but it only opens up the lid that makes the blue paint pour out of the can. Luna tries it one more with another can, but she only gets the same results. Frustrated, she throws the can by the wooden pane. She can no longer stand the pain of being tormented by her own house. But nevertheless, she goes back downstairs, with no other choice.

But on the spur of the moment, a hand grabs Luna on the shoulder, scaring the latter to death. However, it comes to resolve when it turns out to be Lori. "Luna?" she utters.

"Lori, you're awake!" Luna exclaims in relief. She then embraces her sister in response.

"Yeah, I am…literally," Lori spouts, "Where am I?"

"We're in the basement dude," Luna informs her, "Trying to bust us outta here!"

"Oh good. What happened?"

"It was a long night dude. You couldn't believe what happened. But we gotta get outta here!"

But as Luna turns back to the basement, a dark entity appears in front of the two and reaches out its clawed hands to the sisters, making them scream at the top of their lungs. And with a sweep of its claws, Lori and Luna can only let the entity overwhelm them.


End file.
